Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity arrived back at the Golden Oaks Library. Twilight continued to study the photos of Heavyhoof and Shady Mane that she'd gotten from Phillip, memorizing their features.

"We should ask around town, see if anypony has seen them," she suggested to the others.

"Sounds like a plan," Applejack said, opening the door to the library. But what they saw within made them all freeze momentarily, then dash inside.

The library was in shambles: furniture had been knocked over and books were scattered across the floor.

"Spike!" Twilight shouted out, looking around for the little drake. "Spike!"

The door slammed shut behind them. Turning, they saw Shady Mane standing between them and the door, locking it shut with a wicked grin on his face. "Just in time," he said.

Heavyhoof appeared around the corner. With one meaty foreleg, he clutched a trembling Spike to his chest; with the other, he held a long, sharp knife to his throat. "Nopony try anything or the lizard boy gets it," he snarled. Spike's eyes were wide with terror as Heavyhoof pressed the knife closer to him. Having no choice, the three mares sat on the ground, raising their hooves in surrender.

"We've searched this place and haven't found the bracelet," Shady said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Twilight said quickly, her mind racing.

"Don't lie to me!" Shady almost shouted. "You know where it is, and you're going to tell us, or your friend gets hurt."

Rarity snarled in contempt. "You cowards! You dare threaten someone smaller than yourself?"

"We dare," Heavyhoof sneered. He pressed the knife even closer to Spike's throat, eliciting a frightened cry from the young drake. A small trickle of blood ran down his neck, the blade having punctured the vulnerable skin of his neck. Twilight's heart froze in her chest.

"Now, where's the bracelet?" Shady asked.

"We're not telling you!" Applejack declared defiantly.

"That so?" Shady smirked. "Heavy, put a smile on the kid's face."

Heavyhoof grinned and dug the tip of his blade into Spike's mouth, tugging gently upwards at the corner of his lips. Spike began to struggle desperately, crying out in pain and fear.

"Stop! Stop!" Twilight cried desperately. "We gave it to Phillip Finder! He has it!"

Heavyhoof pulled his knife back out. Spike trembled in his grasp, panting in shock. Frightened tears ran down his face.

"So," Shady smirked. "Who is this Phillip Finder and where do we find him?"

"Right behind you," growled a voice.

Shady whirled around, too late. Phillip Finder, who had gained access through an open window, rushed right at him, snapping his right hoof out. With a series of clicks, a black extendable baton appeared in his hoof like magic. The weighted end struck Shady across the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. Dazed but not knocked out, he rolled over to avoid a finishing stomp to his head and got back to his hooves, brandishing his knife. He attacked Phillip, cutting at his ribs, but he dodged to the side, neatly deflecting the attack with his left foreleg and striking him in the gut with his baton.

While Heavyhoof was distracted with watching the fight, Twilight seized her chance. Charging up her horn, she fired a powerful stunning spell right into his face. Dazed, he staggered back, releasing Spike. Immediately, Rarity grabbed the little drake in her magic and pulled him out of danger as Twilight fired a second, more powerful spell. The beam of magic hit Heavyhoof in the face and sent him flying backwards, skidding across the floor and crashing into the opposite wall; he slumped to the ground, unconscious. Twilight immediately trapped him in an immobilization spell, covering him in a field of her magic, glaring and breathing heavily through her nostrils.

Meanwhile, Phillip disarmed Shady Mane of his knife with a baton strike to his hoof and doubled him over with a roundhouse kick to his ribs. Taking the opportunity, Applejack jumped in and bucked Shady in the head like he was a particularly stubborn apple tree. He flew backwards and slammed against the wall next to the door, then tumbled to the floor, groaning.

Barely breathing hard, Phillip collapsed the baton and pocketed it, glaring at Applejack. "That was stupid. I could've handled that."

"Hey, I was just trying to help!" Applejack snapped back.

Phillip glared at her for a moment longer, then turned to the rest of the group. "Spike, y'alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," Spike said, still shivering. "They roughed me up a little when they broke in here, but I'm all right."

"Thank goodness," Twilight sighed, hugging the little dragon to her chest.

"Right," Phillip nodded. "We'd best secure these two and call the Canterlot City Guard—"

Phillip was interrupted by a noise behind them. Turning, the group saw that Shady Mane had regained consciousness and was running out of the library door. With an annoyed sigh, Phillip tucked his trilby into his vest and dashed out after him.

"I've got this one!" Twilight said, turning to Heavyhoof to make sure her immobilization spell was still working. "Spike, go get help! Rarity, Applejack, after him!" Applejack and Rarity both dashed out after Phillip, while Spike raced off to find Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash.

Phillip was already chasing after Shady. Shady had a head start, tearing down the street past bewildered pedestrians like his tail was on fire, but Phillip was closing in, cutting across pathways and dodging over and around obstacles with the agility of a stallion younger than himself. Applejack and Rarity ran after them; Applejack expertly jumped obstacles and zigzagged around startled ponies like this was another rodeo, but Rarity struggled to keep up. "Blast that vanilla oat swirl ice cream," she muttered to herself, huffing and puffing as she rounded a corner.

They passed a house that was under construction. A currently abandoned scaffolding stood outside the house. As he ran past, Shady grabbed the base of the scaffolding and yanked hard. The scaffolding wobbled, then began to fall. Spotting the danger, Phillip and Applejack rolled back out of the way in time. The scaffolding crashed onto the street, blocking the road with a five-foot wall of rubble.

Rarity caught up. "Now hold on everypony," she said, panting a little. "I'll just clear this out of the way—"

But Phillip, after backing up to gain a running start, was running right at the scaffolding. "You can't jump over that!" Applejack protested.

Phillip didn't try to. Instead, he leapt at the wall of the building opposite. Planting his hoof against the wall, he propelled himself up, launching himself up and over the obstacle. He rolled when he hit the ground, continuing to run after Shady.

Rarity and Applejack stared at each other in mute astonishment for a moment before rushing to clear the rubble out of the way. It took them half a minute to clear a pathway; by the time they pushed through, both Phillip and Shady had long vanished.

"He went that way! Hurry!" Bon Bon shouted from in front of her candy shop, pointing down the road. Rarity and Applejack hurried in the direction that she indicated, entering Ponyville Park.

"There!" Rarity shouted, pointing. Shady Mane was running down a path in the park; Phillip was tearing after him, and it looked like he was going to catch up quickly.

But then Shady detoured towards a group of school foals that Cheerilee was leading across a bridge. Phillip put on speed; so did Rarity and Applejack.

Shady ran right into the group and seized one of the foals, Pipsqueak. Much to the shock of everypony watching, he heaved the child right off the bridge and into the river! Pip briefly bobbed to the surface, floundering and gasping in panic. "Help! I can't swim!" he cried before falling back beneath the surface.

Without hesitating, Phillip leapt off the bridge and into the water, disappearing into the depths. Rarity and Applejack ran up to the bank, watching the water with Cheerilee and the other children. Fear clutched at everypony's heart; every passing moment was agony.

And then the surface of the water broke. Phillip, clutching a coughing Pipsqueak in his mouth, swam back to the shore and gently deposited the youngling on the ground.

"Oh, thank you, thank you sir!" Cheerilee gasped, hurrying over to check on her charge.

"No worries," Phillip said, putting his hat back on. "Important thing is that he's all right."

Phillip walked back to Rarity and Applejack. Before either of them could comment on his rescue, he interrupted. "You see where Shady went?"

Both shook their heads. "Sorry, Phillip," Applejack apologized. "Everything was just so—"

Phillip shrugged. "S'alright. We still have someone who knows where he went." He turned and started to jog back to the library.

Rarity took a breath, wiping sweat from her brow. "Where does he get that much energy?"

Author's Notes:

Here we get to see some of Phillip's physical prowess. Didn't expect him to do any of that, did you? Neither do the bad guys.

Coming up: the final confrontation, and some revelations about Phillip's past!